1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement receptacle or junction boxes and in one aspect to an improvement in the mounting means for affixing receptacle or junction boxes to supporting panels and/or light fixtures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior techniques for the mounting of receptacle boxes to a support panel, such as a panel of a light fixture, have been done by the manufacturer of the panel since a special opening requiring special tooling had to be formed in the panel at the time of manufacture. These special openings then fit the particular box and generally the attaching member was positioned perpendicular to the panel. The attaching member was generally a bolt fitting through an opening in the panel and threaded into an opening in the contacting wall of the box.
ALTERNATIVELY, THE LIGHT FIXTURE MAY BE HARD-WIRED TO PERMANENTLY CONNECT THE FIXTURE TO THE CIRCUIT. This was done using rigid or flexible metal conduit which is connected to the fixture using the standard one/half inch prescored knockout openings wherein the slug or disk is knocked out to form the opening for accepting the cnduit end on which is received a threaded washer. Attachment of these conduit couplers requires getting access to the inside of the electrical fixture to apply the locking washer.
Where it is desired to connect the fixture wires to permit quick disconnection of the fixture from the current source the use of a junction box or receptacle box having a quick disconnect electrical termination receptacle is desired. The disconnect terminal of the present invention permits prewired junction boxes to be readily attached to the wired fixture without access to the interior of the fixture.
Some of the known prior patents relating to mounting means for electrical components such as the lamp holders for fluorescent lamps include U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,858, issued May 21, 1968 to G. Johnson. In this patent a special opening is shown in the panel for the fixture which receives the lamp holder. The lamp holder is resiliently held in the opening by a spring member and is carried by an L-shaped bracket which extends through the opening to the top side of the fixture panel. This L-shaped bracket provides the support. This does not provide a positive connection such as may be afforded by using screw fasteners since the screw fastener insures the electrical continuity for grounding purposes between the member and the panel and it provides a more positive lock than provided by a spring member.
A further patent illustrating the use of a screw fastener is U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,217, issued Jan. 9, 1968 to W. J. Graver et al. In this patent the device illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11 includes a special electrical socket secured to the panel of a light fixture for connecting the lamps to the source of current. In this structure the panel again has a special opening to receive the extension 42 of the housing member and a prescribed opening is formed in the panel for receiving the fastening screw. This housing member is formed of insulative material, and thus the screw is not used for electrical continuity but for permanent fastening. this structure does not teach the fastening for a box which is universal and therefore can be added either by the manufacturer or in the field without the use of special tools. It further does not provide a mounting structure which can be installed on panels where the space is restricted such as onto a fixture which is close to a ceiling where there is substantially no work space available for use during installation or removal of the box. Most of the prior art devices require the fasteners to be installed perpendicular to the panel.
Another form of electrical attachment requires the removal of the panel to make the attachment and then the reinsertion of the panel. Such a mounting structure is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,433,511, issued Dec. 30, 1947 to Goddard. In this structure the fastener is again perpendicular to the panel and a wire guide is utilized to assist in the mounting in that a lip is formed on the wire guide to project through one opening in the mounting panel spaced from the opening for the screw fastener. This mounting structure again requires the screw to be perpendicular to the panel and the screws for the panel are perpendicular, thus there is a space requirement involved to effect a connection or disconnection of the box with the panel and it fails to achieve the convenience of the mounting structure of the present invention, the versatility in that it could be used on any of the standard half-inch knock-outs, and it cannot be installed on stock fixtures with no modifications to the fixtures or installed on existing fixtures during field modifications.